The present invention is directed to a continuous fluid collection and monitoring system, and more particularly to a system and method for handling fluid in a continuous fluid collection device.
Prior art single use glucose devices do not address the need to remove fluid from the sensor before measurement of a new fluid sample because these devices are used only on one fluid sample.
In a continuous fluid collection and monitoring system, biological fluid is collected on a continuous basis in a tissue interface device positioned on or about the tissue and caused to flow across a sensor therein. It may be desirable to remove the fluid from the sensor after it has already contacted the sensor and generated a reading, so that new fluid samples can be made to contact the sensor in order to obtain new readings based only on the properties of the new fluid samples. This is particularly important when the fluid samples that are sensed are at a low fluid flow rate, such as microliters per hour, where it is desirable to obtain readings as efficiently as possible. In addition, the fluid flow through the device must be maintained to ensure accurate sensor measurements.